SaskPower Minister Dustin Duncan announced on Oct. 10 the first stage of the competition to build one or more utility-scale wind facilities, which will see up to 300 megawatts (MW) of capacity added to the provincial grid.
“With this competition we are taking another major step toward meeting SaskPower's Prairie Resilience commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030,” Duncan said.
“It is also a demonstration of our commitment to building a cleaner energy future without the need for a harmful carbon tax.”
Wind power has decreased in cost in recent years and is an economical way of meeting SaskPower’s renewable energy targets.
“Today’s announcement builds on 387 MW of wind power projects we are currently in the process of adding at locations near Herbert, Riverhurst and Assiniboia,” said SaskPower president and CEO Mike Marsh in a release. “We look forward to building on our already strong relationship with the wind industry as we incorporate this vital component of our future power generation mix.”
The request for qualification (RFQ) opens in late October 2019. The RFQ phase allows SaskPower to screen prospective developers on experience and financial capability as well as the environmental suitability of sites.
This will be followed by the request for proposals phase, during which qualified proponents will be evaluated through a fair, open and transparent process. The project is expected to be awarded in late 2020 with the facility expected to be in-service by late 2023.
Saskatchewan currently has a total of 241 megawatts of installed wind power capacity from six wind power projects. Earlier this year, the Western Lily Wind Power Facility was completed near Grenfell, adding 20 megawatts capacity to the system.
If operating at full capacity, the output of this round of wind power generation expansion would be roughly equivalent to the Shand Power station near Estevan, which has a net capacity of 276 megawatts. SaskPower is considering the possibility of adding carbon capture and storage to the Shand Power Station.
The combined cycle natural gas-fired Chinook Power Station near Swift Current is expected to go online in late 2019. It will produce 350 megawatts.
Approximately 120,000 homes could be powered by 300 megawatts
